Savage Seas
by HiccupHaddockIII
Summary: Stoick the Vast is desperate. His son, Hiccup, is nineteen and still... Hiccup. He needs something to keep him grounded, a rock, someone who can help him become a true Viking. He won't be around forever, and well, somebody has to take his place. When he visits another island to renew their peace treaty, he gets an idea... Arranged Marriage AU. Hiccstrid. (HTTYD 1 didn't take place)


**_Author's Note_**

 _Hello! New story, this is very exciting!_

 _ **EXTREMELY NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT TO READ**_ _, IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY:_ _The back story: Hiccup and Astrid are both 19 years old. But Astrid isn't from Berk. She's the only daughter of the chief of another island: The Rogue Ruffian Tribe. Everyone still kills dragons. The events of HTTYD 1 never happened, Hiccup never shot down Toothless, has two legs, and is still the village screw up. He doesn't nessecarily burn houses down and cause havoc wherever he walks like when he was 15, but he's still 'useless' and not Viking like. At this point, Stoick is desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures..._

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How To Train Your Dragon or its characters in any way, shape or form.**_

Astrid glared at her innocently white wedding dress and for the thousandth time that night she pondered about the night's pressing question.

How did she get here?

Oh yeah. Her logical parents.

"Astrid," Her mother had told her quietly after she had thrown a fit two months ago, "This is part of the peace treaty we made with Berk. Just do what is expected of you."

Stoick the Vast had come to the island as he usually does to renew the peace treaty every year. She hadn't thought much of it; all she had to do was stand by her father and introduce herself. Her brother usually took care of all that other stuff, considering he was to be the next chief. That is, until Stoick made an offer.

An offer of marriage.

Astrid knew she should've saw it coming. Arranged marriages were common; in fact her own parents' marriage had been arranged.

But she was a shield maiden. Astrid was a warrior, not wife material. She trained hard every single day to fight dragons and defend her tribe, not how to cook and other pointless lessons her mother had forced her to go through without success. There were skulls on her spiked skirt, and she slept with an axe under a pillow for a reason.

And she _knew_ her parents knew that. They knew that a marriage could only restrict her from her only purpose in life.

But here she was anyway, her doomed future planned out for her, and she didn't even have a say in it. Away from her parents, her brother, her home, her island, everything she knew, her _life_ and now she was forced to live on an island called Berk and married to the lanky son of Stoick named Hiccup Haddock.

Who, as it seemed, wasn't too pleased with the arrangement either. He sat glumly next to her, picking at his food. It was ironic how everyone else was celebrating and the actual guests of honor for the night had never felt more unhappy.

She had a good life. She knew exactly what she wanted, she worked for it and she got it. Astrid was one of the best dragon warriors on her island. And she swore to the gods that she wouldn't let this stupid marriage change that.

Astrid didn't even meet him until they had sailed to Berk about a month ago. He didn't seem too bad. So far he had only been kind to her, but the truth remained: they were practically strangers.

And here they were, married.

She could pratically hear her mother's voice again. _Love comes after marriage. Not before._

She didn't need love, or him or anything. She was doing perfectly fine without it, and she will continue to do perfectly fine without it. _Whatever_ , she scowled. She'll do her duty to him as she is expected to and make the best of what her life has become.

Astrid felt a slight opposition toward him, but it wasn't really fair to hold a grudge against him. He obviously had as much say in this as her. He had told her this in the short time they got to spend with each other since her tribe sailed to Berk. They weren't allowed to spend time alone; but they could with the presence of others. Which caused each time they talked to be awkward and rushed.

She could still remember her initial outright hate for him, because after all, he was her unwanted future husband. He had stuttered and mumbled miserably under her harsh glare for about a week until her mother decided it wouldn't do.

She had pulled her aside one night and told her sharply, "You have a duty to make this work. This marriage is for unity of two tribes, not for love. You are to accept this and not be so hard on him. Make it work. All right?"

So Astrid dragged him one day behind a hut and told him bluntly that they would have to try to become friends in order to put up with each other. And that led to him explaining he didn't want this any more than her, and then his father's logic on why he had arranged their marriage. He had ran his fingers through his hair and had said that he, despite being nineteen years old and the chief's son, was seen as useless. Everyone looked down upon him and didn't think he would be a good chief one day. Hiccup explained his father's amazing plan that by being married to some warrior from another tribe that had a good reputation, he would have a better chance at being chief. Anyway, he had grumbled, all the girls his age hated him and he would have probably died a lonely bachelor on the other side of the island with sheep for company.

Maybe he messed up things a lot, (he told her many anecdotes about the many different ways he had managed to burn his village when he was younger) but he was nice enough. But she really couldn't know. She had only been here one month.

And now, one day as, ugh, _Mrs. Haddock._

Astrid cringed and deepened her glare on her dress. Ugh, she hated the way it sounded. Like, she was... a _wife_ or something.

Oh wait. She _is_ a wife.

She glanced up at the rest of the hall, Vikings of both tribes talking, dancing, but mostly drinking. Of course. Her eyes fell on Hiccup, who was staring intently at her.

"What's your problem?" She huffed, shifting her glare towards him. _Oh way to go, Astrid, definitely a way to start married life._

A light smile played on his lips, as if the whole situation was a casual matter. "You've been glaring at your dress for approximently five minutes straight. Whatever you were thinking about, you were thinking hard."

"Oh, I don't know," She muttered sarcastically, "I think you have a good idea what I was thinking about. I mean, it's just another boring, plain day in my life." Astrid crossed her arms bitterly, gesturing to the feast.

His face lightened up in mock surprise and smiled. "Me! You were thinking abou-"

Astrid took a moment to roll her eyes before punching his shoulder. He was such an idiot. "I was _not_ thinking about you." She paused to reconsider. "Well, not directly."

His face squished up in offense and rubbed his arm repeatedly. "Seriously, first day married and you're already getting violent. Aren't I a lucky guy." He grunted dramatically.

Astrid rolled her eyes again. He had a _lot_ to learn. "I'll have you know that I'm capable of causing much, much more pain. So," She leaned over to him and whispered menacingly, "Take note of it and don't get on my nerves. I can make life for you _very, very_ hard."

The sooner she puts him in place, the better.

Hiccup held up his hands. "I believe you, no worries. Just, uh, no more violence? Thanks."

Astrid shrugged noncommittally. "No promises. It depends on your behavior." She supplied snippily.

He blinked. "Wait. Am I your yak or your husband?"

She hated the way he was so _casual_ about it.

"You're not my _anything._ " Astrid muttered bitterly, turning away from him.

"You know, I could go get the papers if you need evidence-"

There. _That_ shut him up.

She put down the now empty mug and smiled pleasantly at him as he sat there drenched in mead.

"Umm. That was my dad's mug of mead." He mumbled with a lopsided grin on his face, obviously amused.

Astrid blushed and silently cursed herself for being hot headed. "I'm sorry, I just was mad at you and..."

Hiccup cut her off, muttering, "It's not me you should be worried about, it's my dad..."

She resumed talking as if he hadn't spoken, "And I tend to be very expressive in my actions."

He glared at her and shook his mead-drenched hair. "Yeah, no kidding, I have first hand experience now."

"That means you'll remember?"

"Probably not," Hiccup shrugged as he dried his hair, "My father says I don't listen to anyone, much less remember what they say."

"Aren't I one lucky girl," Astrid muttered, crossing her arms for what felt like the thousandth time that night.

"Hiccup! Astrid! It's time to leave." A loud, booming voice startled them.

Stealing a glance at Hiccup and the empty mug, and hoping that Stoick didn't notice, she nodded and replied, "Yes sir." despite the palpable horror sinking in her stomach.

He boomed with laughter and slapped his son on the back, almost sending him flying headfirst on to the floor.

x

Hiccup had spent weeks preparing the morning gift. Of course, his father took care of all the other payments included in it... but Hiccup wanted to add something special. Almost as an apology to the girl who has to put up with him. So when the girl, Astrid, arrived... he noticed pretty quickly she was an axe kind of girl.

Vikings tended to want their weapons sharpened in the evening, after a long day of training and sweat. So, Hiccup had to drag his half-asleep body extra early to the forge to work on the axe so he could help out Gobber later. This went on for weeks until the thing was done. He was so caught up in the wedding preparations that he never got the time to really process the fact he was getting _married._

But, duty calls. Every day, it was the same thing. Wake up, face the reality he had forgotten in his sleep: _You're getting married to some girl you literally just met a day ago! Congratulations!_ Trudge to the forge, give that axe all he's got, in hopes he could somewhat not curse his marriage forever if it was pretty. Try not to collapse when a million Vikings shower him with their dulled axes and maces. Go to the forest and practice throwing swords unless he does want a cursed marriage, because if the sword he's got to throw on the actual day doesn't go into the column, _well_. There goes everything. Possibly talk to your bride-to-be in hopes that she won't be a complete stranger. Also, try not to collaspe on the way home. Sleep. Wake up in the middle of the night because dragons decided they felt like destroying his home, and watch yet another plan go down in flames. (Metaphorically _and_ literally, sometimes) Go back to sleep if he can.

 _Glorious_ sleep.

Yeah, sleep had been the only source of happiness in this last month, and he didn't get a lot of it.

Ever since his father dropped the news on him when he came back with the rest of the Rogue Ruffian tribe, his life had been a blur. His popularity with his own village didn't improve. It had gotten easier over the years, but his peers were the harshest on him. Mainly a pair of troublesome twins and his dear beloved cousin. It had been just two days ago when Snotlout came by the forge to order Hiccup to sharpen his beautiful, shiny, _gorgeous, flawless,_ (you get the idea) mace that his father got him. And Hiccup was flooded with work as usual, but he still demanded it be sharpened at that exact moment, because he was not leaving it alone in the forge with the likes of _him_. So, Hiccup sighed and decided it would be easier if he just did it and sent Snotlout on his way. But that opened a wonderful window of opportunity for Snotlout, who vocalized his opinions on his plight with such smugness. ("I bet my new mace your father forced some girl into marriage with you because he was afraid you would die in a dragon raid!" "Snotlout, if anyone's going to die soon in one of these raids, it's you. You don't _think_ when you're- Nevermind, you never think." "Not true! Those beasts could never kill me! If anything, that girl's gonna die when she kills herself on Frigg's Day!")

Blah blah, nobody else would willing take him, blah blah blah- it was more annoying than anything at this point.

Anyway- Hiccup was still waiting to see the day Snotlout or Tuffnut could successfully get a girl without getting severely injured. Who were they to talk?

He had dug out the ancestral sword from his great-great-grandfather's grave and as expected, didn't get attacked by _draugr_ , the mythical undead that he had feared when he was younger. Just another one of Gobber's stories he has proven to be untrue. He had gone with his father- there was _plenty_ of father son bonding. (More like plenty of father son awkward-silence-except-for-the-sound-of-digging bonding)

Fast forward to the fateful night. He was happy about one thing, and _only_ about one thing- the sword actually went into the column that held up the roof, therefore giving their marriage a good omen. He couldn't stop thanking Thor above for his luck. That's one thing in his life he's managed to _not_ screw up.

He exchanged rings and vows with her (which was _super_ awkward) and then they had to drink that honey mead. He never quite developed a taste for mead, and no miracle changed that for today. So it was simply music to his ears when they said they had to drink it for the next thirty days, in order to help them become as 'one' (Because mead apparently has magical properties that make everything better)

Astrid Hofferson, which was now Astrid Haddock, was the poor girl he was marrying. (He only found out her name just last month, when he had to ask her himself, which was _super_ embarrassing. His dad couldn't remember it, so he just referred to her as the 'Hofferson lass' when he told him the news. 10 father-in-law points go to Stoick the Vast.) He found out pretty soon that she wasn't a feminine doormat that would follow his every word, but he didn't want someone like that anyway. Hiccup was very happy she wasn't whiny or needy, because that's all that he's heard from all the men in the forge. (Though, he's pretty sure they were all exaggerating. Those aren't accurate adjectives for tough, fierce Viking women that can kill a dragon single-handedly in the same time it takes them to prepare a meal.)

Which was exactly the kind of woman Astrid seemed like. She was a fighter, and deadly with an axe. So that means he probably won't last a day. Despite the fact she dumped mead on his head, she seemed... no, nice wasn't an accurate word. But she wasn't rude or anything. Well, _technically, s_ he was...

 _Aaaand,_ they've reached the House of Horror. Aka the house that was built for him and his lovely wife.

Was he nervous? That's an understatement. He was _terrified._ Hiccup was scared to death. He could _feel_ the palpable dread sinking in his stomach.

During the bath, he had been _scarred for life_ with the descriptions all the men had given him. _For Thor's sake_! He _knew_ those people! (A snarky voice in him muttered, _Yeah, the only reason you know them is because you burned their houses down when you were younger_ ) He knew their _wives!_ But, sure, give him personal suggestions and anecdotes. It took everything in him not to puke. He almost drowned himself trying to block them out- by immersing himself in the water.

But now, as he's stepping through the door, the reality finally settles in. He's gonna have to, er, _perform,_ in front of _witnesses,_ with a girl he simply met a month ago. Six witnesses, to be exact. He'd prefer, though, a _much_ smaller number, like, maybe, zero? That'd be _great_. Hiccup would rather face a Nightmare than do this. Which basically means he'd rather die. So he considered asking Astrid to run him through with her axe.

Speaking of Astrid, she was as stiff as a board and her eyes were emotionless. Great. It was obvious _she_ wasn't going to help him- What was he talking about? He can't do this. He can't. It wasn't right, screw Viking traditions.

They stared at each other for a moment, in the dead silence, and Hiccup saw a glimpse of fear in her eye before it was washed away with the determined look of a warrior. Hiccup took this moment to admire her strength because the gods knew he was visibly trembling.

 _Stall for time. Stall for time. Stall for time._

Hiccup thought of all the times he had acted awkward and been embarrassed in situations, and then realized that he hadn't even scratched the surface.

"Could you, uh, s-sit down, um, so I could.." He trailed off and she nodded softly and walked slowly to the edge of the bed. She sat down and looked up at him as he removed her veil, _very, very_ slowly, letting her thick golden hair down.

Wow. She was beautiful.

Angry cries started coming from the other side of the room, about how they hadn't got all night, they still had more mead to drink, about why couldn't he just speed it up already and why couldn't he be a man and take charge.

An idea began to formulate in his mind, and it was pretty stupid and couldn't even be called a plan, but it was _something_ and that was good enough for a desperate time like this.

He was about to make his desicion, and with one more glance at her slowly fading away strong front, he turned to the witnesses.

"I can't." He spoke simply.

"What do ya mean, you can't? Be a man!" One called out from the group, followed by similar shouts.

Hiccup glanced at her now confused face and took a deep breath. "I can't. I can't do this in front of all of you. I can't, uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. That's enough public speaking for him for one day, as if this day hadn't been long enough.

Luckily, Gobber saved him with his quick thinking. "I'm pretty sure by the time we go back to the party, all of tha yak pie will be gone! Ay been waitin' all year fo' that! We might as well go eat now. The two of em will still be sittin there, like two lumps on a log no matter how long we wait."

"But, Gobber, it's tradition. Somebody has to make sure they've done it." Spitelout called out.

"Otherwise the marriage won't be valid." Another Viking piped up.

"Tha farthest they'll go is takin off their shoes. They'll do it when we come back later."

"But Gobber-" Another protested.

Gobber cut him off, gesturing to Hiccup wildly. "Nobody knows this boy better than ay do! And let me tell yeh, he takes _forever_ ta get things done."

Hiccup smiled weakly as everyone turned to glance at him.

Spitelout broke the silence and laughed heartily. "Tis true. Anyway, I still have to get more mead. I don't feel drunk enough."

He made his way to the door only to slam straight into it.

"Yeah, you're drunk enough." Hiccup muttered sarcastically under his breath.

Slowly, one by one, they all left, grumbling about mead and famous yak pie. Gobber was the last to go, and winked at the two of them. "Ave fun!" He called out before swinging the door closed.

It was dead silence for five seconds.

Hiccup was smiling for the first time in as long as he can remember. Man, he owed that guy his _life._

"Gods," He laughed good-heartedly, "I love Gobber so much right now."

Astrid eyed him before muttering darkly, "Isn't a statement like that supposed to be for your wife?"

Hiccup shrugged and lazily laid down on the bed, putting his hands behind his head and happily getting comfortable.

"We're not getting _jealous_ now, are we?"

Astrid punched in his arm again. Wow, at this rate, he'll be dead by morning.

"At least there's someone on this island that likes you." Astrid rolled her eyes at him, hoping to forget what was to come once they came back.

Hiccup opened one eye at her with a mischievous smirk. "Well, I was hoping by the end of this night, there would be _two..."_

Another punch, followed by a harsh and unamused glare. Stratch that, he won't even make it to tomorrow. Especially since she's getting a battle axe tomorrow, made by him. Her first act with it will probably to run him through with it as a form of thanks.

"So..." Astrid started in a serious tone, wiping her bangs from her face without looking at him. "They'll be back later to watch, won't they..."

"Yup, they'll be back. But they'll be back drunk." He proclaimed happily. "They won't know the difference, we don't have to do anything."

Astrid looked up at him suspiciously. "And you're sure of this because..."

He sighed and sat up so he was next to her on the bed. "I'm sure Gobber will take care of it. He's like a second father to me. I trust him."

"And I'm supposed to trust you?"

Hiccup sighed again. "No, I guess you're not. But there's only one other option and..." The mischievous smirk made its way onto his face again.

She slugged him in the arm. "Don't even _think_ about it."

x

Gobber had dragged the six witnesses back to the house. Most of them had been passed out, but he had _somewhat_ woken them up. Hiccup owed him big time. He forced himself to stay sober the whole time, and gotten them all tragically drunk. It's painful to deny yourself a well-deserved tankard of mead and give it to the others.

He pushed them through the door and went over to the bed. The two of them were sleeping, or appeared to be, facing different sides of the bed. Obviously Hiccup hadn't laid a finger on her.

Gobber tapped Hiccup's shoulder and his eyes flew open. With one glance at all the half-asleep drunk Vikings, he smiled and mouthed "Thank you."

Gobber nodded and turned to the others. "It was done. We can go now."

One Viking blinked blearily, stumbling forward, "But Gobber, we weren't here when they did it, yeh told us they would wait for us to come back... how could we be sure?" His words were slurred.

Gobber snapped at him, "And who's fault is tha? Do ye really wanna go tell Stoick the Vast tomorrow morning that ye were passed out drunk when yeh were all supposed ta be doing your duty?"

They all grunted and shook their heads, barely keeping their eyes open. Barely processing anything for that matter.

"That's wha I thought. They've done it. Now get on back to tha party."

 ** _Author's Note_**

 _I'm very open to criticism! Please, tell me anything that was historically, grammatically incorrect. Also, tell me whatever you liked, or didn't like, and if I should post another chapter!_

 _I want to explain their characters a bit:_

 _Obviously after 4 more years of being a screw-up, Hiccup's confidence hasn't grown in any way. It's been four long years since he was 15, and considering Hiccup's undeniable intelligence, he's managed to get some of his inventions to work. But it's still not the Viking way. He doesn't burn houses down, or anything- but, his past does come back to haunt him sometimes. (when they make fun of him for it) While he might manage to injure one, maybe to go as far as to fatally injure it, it's not with an axe, it's not the Viking way of doing things. He doesn't have a merciless thirst for killing dragons, but he aims to for the attempt for acceptance. And with those bulky inventions, the Vikings see him more as an annoyance because he gets in the way. They see him more useful in the forge, making weapons for them to use. We'll see more of Hiccup in raids and in the view of the village in following chapters. And of Stoick's reasoning of this arranged marriage._

 _Astrid basically grew up the same way she would've on Berk- just with the pressure of being a chief's daughter- which would've only encouraged her further to be a warrior. She's still hot headed like her 15 year old self. But she's grown up. Not the way she did in HTTYD 2, though. She's grown past the punch-everyone-and-leave-them-all-in-the-dust stage, because that doesn't work anymore in the adult world, but she's a determined, fierce dragon fighter. In this, she understands her duty to Hiccup as his wife, and accepts it as a woman, but has no intentions of letting it stop her from being the warrior she is. Think of it as a more mature 15 year old Astrid._

 _I will, of course, still be working on my Modern AU HTTYD fic, Walking It Off. Updates for both of these may come slower, due to the fact I'm working on both. Thank you for understanding :)_

 _THANK. YOU. SO. MUCH._ _to everyone who gave this a chance! I'm so excited for this story. I've got a lot planned :) Reviews are so very appreciated and it makes my day to read them! I love responding to all of you!_

 _I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing! :D_


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